I Hate Politics Podcast

Double-header on Rockville City Mayor and Council election scheduled for November 7. This episode includes 5 City Council candidate interviews: Marissa Valeri (2:55), Adam Van Grack (18:47), Izola Shaw (35:46), Paul Scott (50:45), and Kate Fulton (1:08:30). See links on Twitter @ihppod. Accompanying episode (#142) features mayoral candidates. The 2023 Rockville City election ushers in a new era fo...

Double-header on Rockville City Mayor and Council election scheduled for November 7. This episode features candidate interviews with the two mayoral candidates Mark Pierzchala (3:26) and Monique Ashton (24:50). Both currently serve on the Rockville City Council. See links on Twitter @ihppod. Accompanying episode (#143) features City Council candidates. The 2023 Rockville City election ushers in a...

In 2023, the normally deep blue Montgomery County, Md, saw conservative religious groups demanding the right to opt their children out of LGBTQ+ themed books in the public school curriculum. This wasn't a call for banning books, but adjacent. The county's only full-time education reporter at that time was Em Espey, who is nonbinary. After six months of remarkable coverage, Espey left their reporte...

The Maryland Prepaid College Trust, a state-run tax-protected 529 college savings plan, unraveled over the last few years despite having more than enough money to meet its obligations. A series of bad decisions made by its independent and high-powered Board led to the loss of account values, accusations of mismanagement, and halting of disbursements to families on the verge of sending their childr...

The Maryland Department of Transportation released its capital budget plan with key projects missing and explicitly stating that the document reflects the priorities of the previous governor. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Marc Korman, Chair of the House of Delegates Environment and Transportation Committee, to find out what's going on. Local news re why MoCo Councilmember Gabe Albornoz opposed the new...

Two and a half years after he bought the Bethesda Magazine and Bethesda Beat, Rockville-based real-estate developer Scott Copeland speaks with Sunil Dasgupta about the media business, rebranding Bethesda Beat as MoCo360, his own political education, and the troubles with housing and public education in the county. Local news re Safe Streets Act, the ban on gas-powered leaf blowers, a possible new...

In spring 2020, when millions had to apply for unemployment insurance, government systems became overwhelmed and broke down. In the midst of all that, in May 2020, the state of Maryland went ahead with a scheduled change to its unemployment insurance computer system to a new platform called Beacon, which failed spectacularly. We know this generally, but attorney Rachel Harris, who worked for Maryl...

Why does local governance constitute an alphabet soup of overlapping organizations? Sunil Dasgupta talks with Tracy Hadden Loh, Brookings Institution scholar and one of the authors of the book, Hyperlocal: Place Governance in a Fragmented World, about local democracy practice going beyond formal government. Local news re office building to home conversions, a first-ever pedestrian master plan and...

When President Biden nominated former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley to be director of the Social Security Administration, Democratic State Senator Jill Carter from Baltimore said she couldn't support the president anymore, opening a view into the traumatic history of hundreds of thousands of illegal arrests during O'Malley's tenure as mayor of the city. Jill Carter talks to Sunil Dasgupta abou...

One of the great weaknesses of minimum wage laws is that it excludes tipped workers. In 2018, Washington DC voters passed Initiative 77 to level minimum wage across the board but the DC Council killed it. In 2022, the DC voters passed Initiative 82 with even bigger numbers and the measure is once more in front of the DC Council. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Washington DC bartender and labor activist...

When political leaders win narrow victories, how do they govern? From the middle or hammer home the consequences of their election? Sunil Dasgupta talks with political analyst and housing activist Jonathan Robinson about structure and dynamics of Montgomery County's housing politics where County Executive Marc Elrich's 32-vote victory has become a coalition that passed three housing-tax increases...

Maryland's natural gas utilities are spending billions in building out and strengthening distribution networks at a time when the state has set ambitious goals to reduce fossil fuel use. When gas consumption falls, ratepayers and maybe taxpayers remain on the hook for these capital investments. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Maryland People's Counsel, David Lapp, about a petition his office made to the...

Three Delaware municipalities—Fenwick Island, Henlopen Acres and Dagsboro—allow corporations, trusts, and LLCs to vote in municipal elections. And the state almost allowed a fourth this spring. Sunil Dasgupta talks to Claire Snyder-Hall of Common Cause Delaware about artificial person voting and the state's political culture. Episode includes student book review #2, this time of a contested pictur...

The City of Rockville adopted a comprehensive land-use plan in 2021 envisioning increased housing density in certain locations and the city is now working to bring its zoning law into compliance. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Rockville Planning Commission member Suzan Pitman about development issues likely to inform the upcoming mayor and council elections. Local news about a newly-disclosed 2022 MCPS...

Traffic stops are the most common police-public interaction in America, and in many cases they have gone horribly wrong. Traffic stops are also used as an excuse for searches that would otherwise be illegal. The police have used traffic stops to target minority drivers disproportionately. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando who has proposed a bill to shrink the r...

Like many close-in suburbs, Montgomery County, Md, is faced with a housing affordability crisis. Change in the make-up of the county council and organizing by social justice groups leads to the adoption of a new rent law that seeks to stem rising  living costs without killing new housing production. Sunil Dasgupta talks with local housing activist Mike English about what's in the law, how it came...

Montgomery County is about to pass a Safe Streets Bill. Traffic deaths and collisions are up. Distracted driving is rampant. Everyone wants safer roads but the only way to get there, it seems, is through small steps taken in the face of institutional and cultural barriers. Sunil Dasgupta talks with pedestrian and bike safety activist Miriam Schoenbaum about the bill and its implications. Local new...

Kara Levchekno's voice has counterbalanced many a heated political conversation on this podcast. Now after three years of work, the voice of #IHP Candidate Interviews and high school choir teacher releases her debut album, Letters to Myself. A lot of her music and a portrait of the artist in this episode. Stream on Spotify. Buy here: https://t.ly/frla . Listening Advisory: explicit song lyrics. Lo...

This year's Fourth of July episode explores the ideology of localism, a foundational tenet of American political philosophy. Sunil Dasgupta talks with political theorist and author Trevor Latimer about his new book. Small Isn't Beautiful, where he takes on the widespread presumption that the government closest to us is necessarily the best. Local news re LGBTQ+ book protests, Maryland opens to mar...

Summertime. Christy Brock of DC-based outdoor education nonprofit, Urban Adventure Squad, offers a list of her favorite outdoor things to do. This is not your typical DC list. News from Delaware, where the state allows artificial persons (LLCs, trusts) to vote in local elections and is now considering new law for the city of Seaford to do so. Music from the band Finster. Their 2023 album, Crosswin...

The two promises of utility deregulation in Maryland and several other states–lower prices and green energy–have not come to fruition. How energy trading firms can exploit competitive advantage to lower prices is hard to see and they have used Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), not necessarily new generation, to claim they are selling green energy. Instead, energy trading firms have been accuse...

Thirteen books with gay and trans themes or characters introduced by MCPS into elementary and middle school curriculum have mobilized conservative Muslims groups in deep blue Montgomery County alongside the national right-wing parents group Moms 4 Liberty. Meanwhile in DC, the Council passes a budget that pilots flexible schedules for teachers. Sunil Dasgupta talks with local Muslim leader Wael El...

Four South-central Virginia county governments consider resolutions recognizing their local militia following over 100 local jurisdictions in the state declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries. Sunil Dasgupta talks with American University's Carolyn Gallaher about the evolution of militias from anti-government rage to paramilitary alliance with Republican governments. Local and state news...

A Richmond, Va-based, produce delivery company, Seasonal Roots, reinvents community supported agriculture (CSAs) by gigging out the last-mile delivery to an army of part-time workers and other insights from the fresh food business. Sunil Dasgupta talks with founder Duane Slyder as his company targets growth in suburban Maryland. Local news re three tax hikes in Montgomery County. Music from Arling...

Building the Purple Line light rail connecting Montgomery and Prince George's Counties raised concerns that the resulting increase in housing costs will force out current residents and businesses while a new wealthier population moved in. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Nicholas Finio, one of the authors of a new study of rent increases near proposed Purple Line stations, about their findings and what t...